


Dawn Is Breaking

by Self_Indulgent_TMNT



Category: Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Genre: Background Baurus is our true hero, F/M, Fluff, Jauffre is stuck in his old ways, Little bit of angst, Mid way through main quest line, Oblivion Main Quest, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:53:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25076428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Self_Indulgent_TMNT/pseuds/Self_Indulgent_TMNT
Summary: “It is up to me whom I choose to surround myself with”“Every move you make will be scrutinised by a whole host of people who would have you dethroned. You will be expected to act as an emperor not a priest, nor a farmer’s son.”“I will be whomever I choose to be. I will rule as I see fit with the council of those I most trust. I will make my own decisions”“You cannot marry her, Martin!”And there it was. The crux of Jauffre’s point.Martin’s heart turned to ice. He stood, drawing his full height up against Jauffre’s. The fire of a dragon blazed in his eyes but outwardly he was horribly calm.Martin loved Ariadne, he wasn't sure when he realised this but it was true. He spent the long hours at Cloud Ruler Temple waiting for her to come back, praying for her to come back.He was happy not to do anything about it, just to get through this current crisis in one piece and think about what comes after when it happens. That is until Jauffre brought it up, and Martin was not only forced to defend his secret love but to think about the future.
Relationships: Hero of Kvatch | Champion of Cyrodiil/Martin Septim
Comments: 28
Kudos: 35





	1. She Cannot Be Yours

**Author's Note:**

> This is a short story, will only be a handful of chapters. I started writing it ages ago just for me and with the intention it would be a one shot but it sort of grew. I hope you enjoy it.

Martin Septim had many things on his mind these days. He thought back on his days as a priest in Kvatch with too much nostalgia for something that was his reality only a short time ago. Now he was to be an emperor and that was quite enough to deal with, but forcing even that into insignificance was the role he had to play in saving the world, indeed in protecting reality as they knew it. His mind was full of hideous images and twisted ideas stemming from the jagged symbols covering the cursed pages he spent his hours untangling. He barely had chance to think about his being emperor, he certainly didn’t spend any time imagining the opulent lifestyle he would surely have if they made it through, or the new life of politics, speeches and meetings he would lead.  
Jauffre, however, seemed to have only too much time to think of these things. In his mind he was already planning Martin’s reign, and what the fledgling emperor would most need council on. He’d already envisioned his coronation, his welcome events, the oaths he would have to take.  
That was harmless enough, and it seemed to be keeping the old Blade’s mind busy in the long, quiet hours between their hero arriving, taking on a new mission and then leaving again.  
They were long hours. Martin stared at his book, Jauffre planned the future, Baurus reflected on past failings. And they all waited.  
Then the door would open again and instead of a Blade in their uniform armour coming in from their cold patrol it would be her, hair slick with grime and blood but flowing down her back in a waterfall of copper nonetheless; face battered and bruised and forced back into place with magic; armour rent, clothes slashed. Alive, gleaming in the firelight. Ariadne.  
The mere sight of her, broken as she seemed to be, made Martin feel better. He’d sent her off with a heavy heart and sick to his stomach, sure that what he asked was far too much and would surely spell her doom, or at least make her realise this was all madness. She wouldn’t return, of that he was certain.  
And yet, she did. Every single time. Victorious, tired, modest. Again and again she achieved the unachievable as though it were nothing. She was his hero, his champion, his light in the darkness. Very swiftly he realised he no longer knew how to survive without her. He depended on her for her capability and her deeds, yes, but it was something more than that: the way she spoke to him and him to her was the only relief he received these days. He could confide in her of the worries that plagued him and know that his words would go no further. She spoke to him like a real person, like a friend. She was the only one who did nowadays.  
Her council, her candid opinion, was the most valuable in his eyes.  
She was his friend, his confidant and his champion all in one.  
He needed her. He loved her. It wasn’t clear exactly when he had come to the conclusion that he did, even less when exactly he had fallen, but he was certain that he did love her. Possibly even since their first meeting, on what could easily have been the worst day of his life. The city was crumbling and burning around him as he and a few survivors hid in the temple and all of the faith his life was built upon faded away. And then there she was, dressed in scavenged armour and standing tall among the wreckage. She said nothing to him in the temple, just watched him slightly too intently as he and the other civilians were escorted to safety. He’d thought little of it at the time, but later that evening he watched her make her solitary way down the hill to the camp that was all that remained of Kvatch and even his tired, scared mind knew that she was beautiful. She made a beeline for him, weaving through the crowd with the elegance of a natural warrior and stopping before him.  
She flipped his whole world upside down and he couldn’t bring himself to care because he knew she was right. Everything she said seemed to be right.  
He knew then he would follow her across the whole world if needs be, Weynon priory seemed hardly any distance at all. But those early hours on the road with her were what kept him up at night now, remembering the way they had talked, had grown to know each other.  
Yes, perhaps even then he loved her.

In those few moments when he did dare imagine the future she was there, right by his side, as she had been right at the beginning. In what capacity he didn’t imagine, whether wife or advisor it didn’t matter. She was there. Safe and sound. Right where she should be.

“Martin, may I speak with you?”  
Jauffre’s voice cut through the daedric fog in Martin’s mind and he lurched away from the page, shaking himself free.  
“Of course, what is it?”  
“It concerns Ariadne”  
His heart was in his mouth at the mention of her name. Was she alright? Had she returned without his knowing, in a terrible state?  
“What about her? Is she back already?”  
“No, she is not”  
“Then what can you possibly need to discuss?”  
“It’s…” Jauffre shifted, clearly uncomfortable.  
“What is it?”  
“Well it seems as though we are drawing steadily closer to a conclusion to this nightmare and, if all goes well, then you shall be coronated soon. You shall take on the full responsibilities and position of emperor, with all of its glamour and situation within the public eye”  
“What can this possibly have to do with Ariadne?”  
“She cannot be yours, Martin”  
That was… unexpected. “What by gods do you mean?”  
“I see the way you look at her, the way you and she talk. You rely on her, on her company. May I even suggest that you love her? And possibly even she you”  
“What are you getting at?” Martin was on the verge of angry now, unsure of what Jauffre was implying but knowing he wouldn’t like it when he spelled it out.  
“You envision a future with her at your side, confidant and friend as she is now. You will listen to her advice more closely than that of others, because of the way you feel for her”  
“I wish you would not assume my feelings, Jauffre”  
“Regardless,” the old blade shook off the edge sneaking into his emperor’s voice, “you are accustomed to being able to choose your own connections, but the fact remains that you will be an emperor and she is a commoner, possibly even worse. Baurus found her in a prison”  
“She is also the greatest hero this land may ever have seen”  
“I am not denying that, nor would I ever belittle what she has done. Her talents may raise her to legendary status, she may be hailed as a hero and a warrior for centuries to come, but she cannot be more. The political spheres of the ruling class are no place for an escaped prisoner with a clouded history. If she showed up at a council as one of your advisors then your judgement and your allegiances would be questioned”  
“Do not forget, Jauffre, that I am also from common stock. I was raised by farmers”  
“You are the emperor! Risen from the ashes of Kvatch when the people most needed you. Your origins will be forgiven, hers will not”  
“It is up to me whom I choose to surround myself with”  
“Every move you make will be scrutinised by a whole host of people who would have you dethroned. You will be expected to act as an emperor not a priest, nor a farmer’s son.”  
“I will be whomever I choose to be. I will rule as I see fit with the council of those I most trust. I will make my own decisions”  
“You cannot marry her, Martin!”  
And there it was. The crux of Jauffre’s point.  
Martin’s heart turned to ice. He stood, drawing his full height up against Jauffre’s. The fire of a dragon blazed in his eyes but outwardly he was horribly calm.  
“Excuse me?”  
The old man seemed to realise what he had said, and how he had said it. He took a step back, deflated, glancing around the hall to see who had heard his outcry. Baurus, in his position mere feet away, certainly had, plus conversation between the two blades across the hall had fallen silent. Everyone was trying very hard not to look at the fledgling emperor and the old blade as Martin took a step towards Jauffre, lowering his voice to avoid further eavesdropping.  
“I will not deny you have more experience in all of this than I do, and I trust your judgement, but it seems you have forgotten your place. It is not your job to tell me what I can and cannot do and it is certainly not your job to guess at my feelings, nor Ariadne’s”  
“I am an old man, Martin. I have seen much. I know what it is you see when you look at her but it cannot be true. I wish it could be but the situation is beyond just yourselves. You may love her all your life but you can never marry someone of her status and origin. You will marry a princess or a duchess, someone close to your rank. It is the way”  
“You cannot make decisions for me. No one can. I am not an emperor, not yet, and even when I am I will always be a farmer’s son and a former priest. That will not go away. I will be different to past emperors, I will need council and education, more so than my predecessors. But I will make my own decisions.”  
“Surely you must see what I am saying”  
“You have no right to guess at my feelings for her, and you certainly have none to guess at hers for me, let alone to council what I should do with the attachment you have decided I have.”  
“Do you not love her?”  
“That is no concern of yours. Now, if we are quite done here, I think I shall go for a walk”  
“But sire-”  
“Perhaps I did not make myself clear. I am going for a walk. Alone.”


	2. The Champion Returns

Martin left the hall, too angry to worry about where he was going or the fact that it was freezing outside. He just wanted to get away, to think and to breathe. He got about 5 steps towards the gate before someone stopped him.  
“Where are you going, sire?”  
He sighed and rubbed a hand across his face. “I had planned on going for a walk”  
“Alone?”  
“That was the idea”  
“Does Jauffre know about this?”  
“He does”  
“Has he given his permission”  
“I have not” Jauffre’s voice sounded and Martin turned around, staring at the Master of the Blades where he now stood in the temple doorway.  
“Am I to be kept prisoner by my own bodyguards?”  
“You are being kept safe by them” Jauffre replied. The two men stared at each other for a long moment.  
“Martin, you must listen to reason”  
“What I need is a chance to listen to my own thoughts”

There was a creaking sound at the bottom of the steps and the large gates swung open. All attention turned to the lone figure framed by them, sat atop a bay horse with the first few flakes of a snowstorm swirling about her. Ariadne took in the scene at the top of the stairs with a mix of alarm and slight amusement. She looked at Martin, part way down the stairs and definitely not dressed for the weather and she smiled to herself at the man she couldn’t help but adore.  
In silence she rode up the stairs, watched by the whole group, and came to a stop beside Martin.  
“What’s all this about?”  
The one question unfroze the group.  
“This does not concern you” Jauffre snapped and Ariadne glared at him, unaccustomed to that kind of tone from the usually calm blade.  
“What are you doing here?” Martin asked.  
“Your timing’s about perfect” Baurus remarked from inside the door of the temple, leaning against the doorframe and feeling thankful he hadn’t been actively dragged into anything.  
Ariadne looked between the three men and raised an eyebrow. “Right” she murmured, then turned to the poor blade that had been questioning Martin. “Jena, please shed some light on this for me”  
“The emperor came outside claiming to be going for a walk, but Jauffre followed and said he hadn’t given permission. It appears they’re continuing something that happened inside”  
“A walk?” Ariadne turned her face down to Martin with a raised eyebrow. He blushed at his own foolishness.  
“I just need to clear my head”  
“You’re a damn fool, Martin Septim” she murmured, low enough that only he could hear, and Martin could feel the affection radiating from her as she did. She turned to the group, tender moment over. “Honestly, I leave you boys alone for five minutes”  
“Why are you back, Ariadne? Do you not have an important task to be completing?” Jauffre asked.  
“It’s a little trickier than anticipated, I needed a break to properly plan” she murmured, hardly paying attention to the blade as she looked back at Martin. “I’ll escort the emperor inside, shall I?”  
She hopped off her horse, passing the reigns over to Jena who looked relieved just to have something to do, before giving Martin a meaningful look and heading towards the barracks, followed by the emperor.  
They were silent until the door to Martin’s room had shut behind them. Then, and only then, did Ariadne release a laugh she’d been holding since the gates opened before her.  
“What did you do to Jauffre? He looked about ready to explode”, she flopped onto Martin’s bed, pulling off the light armour she wore on the road as she did so.  
“What did I do? What did he do?!”, Martin remained standing, body tensed.  
“Alright, what did he do?”  
“He…”  
“Yes?”  
“We spoke”  
“About?”  
“The future”  
“Martin, are you going to give me any kind of detail or do I have to pull it out of you two words at a time?”  
“I’m sorry”, Martin finally took a seat next to her. “He came to me and said we had to speak about… well, you”  
“Me?”  
“Yes. He’s got it into his head that you and I are in love and he decided he had to step in and quell any ideas in my head that when I’m emperor I’ll still have you around, counselling me and maybe even- gods it was unbearable”  
“Woah there, slow down your majesty”, she placed a hand on his shoulder and he relaxed a little. “He’s decided we’re in love?”  
“Yes”  
“And did you confirm it?”  
“I- no! Of course not!”  
“Why? Because you aren’t sure or because you don’t think it’s his business?”  
“Well it isn’t his business but- wait. Sure about what?”  
“Whether or not we’re in love”  
Martin seemed to have forgotten how to both think and breathe. Ariadne smiled, which didn’t help him. She gazed at the man she’d loved since their first meeting, the man she would follow to the end of forever, the man she daily faced hell for. She leant in, still smiling in amusement at his confused face, and pressed her lips to his brow, kissing the creases away.  
“Oh” was all he managed to say.  
“Because, you see, I’ve loved you since we walked to Weynon together”  
“Oh”  
She grinned at the startled look on his face. “Are you… Are you in love with me?”  
“Of course I am, Ariadne. Of course I am” he whispered, placing a hand to the back of her head, running his fingers through the loosely tied hair.  
“So what’s the problem with Jauffre assuming it?”  
Martin blinked, struggling to cope with the realisation he and Ariadne had just confessed their feelings for each other as easily as anything.  
“Well it wasn’t that so much as his main point”  
“Which was?”, Ariadne placed a kiss to the corner of his mouth and Martin was distracted for a minute or two, pulling her towards him and stealing kiss after long, languid kiss because now that it was on the cards there was no way he was letting such a perfect chance slip by. Finally Martin remembered the question and darted away, his fury coming back twofold now that he actually had the woman in question in his arms.  
“He said that when this is all over I can’t have you around. He says your origins mean I couldn’t ever have you as my council and I definitely couldn’t-“, he stopped, not sure if bringing up Jauffre’s other point was entirely prudent with a person he’d only just now kissed for the first time.  
“Martin?”  
“He said, and I quote, ‘you cannot marry her’”  
“Oh”, Ariadne pursed his lips.  
“Which is completely ridiculous for numerous reasons”  
“It certainly is a little presumptuous of him”  
“Presumptuous? He thinks to council me on a future that may not even happen which, should it be realised, he won’t be involved in and all you can say is that’s a bit presumptuous of him”  
“Well it is”  
Ariadne had flopped backwards onto the bed, gazing up at him through her eyelashes.  
“That’s not exactly the word I would have used”  
“No, you went for ‘completely ridiculous’ and ‘I shall storm out onto a freezing mountainside while wearing sandals’”  
He had the good grace to look bashful. “I just wanted to get away”  
“Yeah, I know”  
They were quiet. Martin let go a long breath and let himself fall backwards to lie next to Ariadne. His hand found hers, running his thumb over her knuckles. They were rough and calloused and a couple of them had scabs on, marks from glancing blows in conflicts she’d probably already stopped thinking about. She took them for him, all of them, and even the smallest cut on her skin burned his soul because they were all sufferings he should have saved her from. He cringed thinking about it, knowing she would laugh at his foolishness if she knew, and brought the hand to his lips, kissing the tough skin and wishing that one day her life would be easy enough for the callouses to fade.  
“He can’t control you, y’know”, Ariadne’s voice was low and easy as she broke their quiet.  
“What?”  
“Jauffre. He may say those things but he cannot make them true, and he cannot make you pay heed. No one can. You are your own man, Martin. Don’t ever forget that”  
“I think I am technically the people’s man now”  
Martin glanced towards the woman by his side and saw a smile pulling at her lips. “What is it?” he asked.  
“To think that you should ever have been destined to be anything other than emperor”  
“What are you talking about?”  
“It is in your very bones, Martin. It is in the way you are. Anyone would look at you and think ‘of course he is the emperor’, there is simply no other position would suit you”  
“I am the son of a farmer”  
“You are also the son of the emperor and both show through. You are not even crowned and already you are resigned to being the people’s, already you are sacrificing things for them. You are, always have been, and always will be, one of the greatest emperors we have ever seen”  
“Your faith in me is alarming and, I fear, unfounded”  
“You are my emperor and I am your champion, believing in you is part of my job”  
Martin closed his eyes against the pain of knowing just how many things she considered part of her job.  
“We could do it, you know” Ariadne murmured, more to herself than to him.  
“What?”  
“We could get married. Sneak out, run down to the temple, whisper our vows before the gods in the middle of the night. Jauffre couldn’t say no then, not when it was already done”  
“You’d do that?”  
“Of course I would. I love you”  
And that was enough for one night. Knowing that she would do it, that it was possible. The idea itself was rebellion enough to satisfy the rage in his heart. For one night at least.


	3. The Minds of the Young

Jauffre sat in the hall of Cloud Ruler temple, staring into the flames of the great fire which always burned. He thought about what he’d said, what Martin had. He relived the argument, imagined all the things he should have said.  
He thought about Ariadne, about how swiftly she had diffused the situation. How Martin’s expression had changed when he saw her.  
He liked the girl. Of course he did. Ever since the day she’d wandered into Weynon Priory, covered in dirt and slamming the Amulet of Kings onto his desk, she had continuously surprised him. Every expectation anyone might have had of her had been blown out of the way. Of course he cared for the girl, he knew exactly what they owed her. But for her to stand by the emperor… it was just impossible!  
He sensed a presence at his elbow and looked up to see Baurus, standing by his chair and staring into the flames with him.  
“You can’t expect them not to love each other” he said, quietly.  
Jauffre sighed. “No. I should have seen it coming, really”  
“Why’s that?”  
“It is the nature of their relationship, it has been since the beginning. He admires her, holds her up as god-like because he knows what she has done, what she is capable of. And because she’s brought him hope, made him feel safe, right from their first meeting. He associates her with safety. He sees her and he feels relief and joy. It only makes sense that you would grow to love someone who makes you feel those things.”  
“And Ariadne?”  
“She lives for Martin. The reason she is doing all of this is for him, to make him emperor. She wants to protect him and she wants to impress him, to do what he asks of her. He is the centre of her world. He is so important and she feels so intimately involved in his journey, in protecting him and getting him through this. And he’s given her hope, a dream that maybe one day a world will exist where she doesn’t need to fight. The two of them think about each other constantly, each lives for the other. We could hardly expect them to rely so much on each other, to go through so much together, and not form some closer bond.”  
Jauffre finished speaking with a sigh, rubbing a hand across his weary face.  
“Would it really be so impossible for them to be together?”  
“I have already explained-”  
“Yes but you ignore one thing”  
Jauffre turned to his young companion in confusion. “And what is that?”  
“If we emerge from the other side of this crisis, the world will not be the same. The people will not see things as they did before, and Martin will not lead as other emperors have before. It is an uncertain future ahead of us. All of your experience will not be able to help him. Perhaps what this world needs most is something it has never had before. It is possible she was not just sent to get us through this hell, but to rebuild a new world with Martin.”  
Jauffre stared in amazement. He had to admit he hadn’t thought of it that way. It was clear to him the gods had sent Ariadne, but he had never considered she was intended for more than just this current crisis. He didn’t know what to say.  
“Besides,” Baurus went on, “there is no guarantee we will even make it through all of this. The world is so dark that we may never see the light again. If two people, the two people with the fate of the world resting on their shoulders, can find some kind of solace in each other, who are we to tell them that’s wrong.”  
As Jauffre listened he found himself feeling very old. He had been through a lot in his time, had learnt a lot, but as Baurus spoke he couldn’t help but see the sense in it. The young blade seemed right in ways Jauffre hadn’t even considered. Even now, when there was no certainty they would see an end to all of this, it seemed that it was the young minds who understood, or who could imagine the world that might emerge from the other side.


	4. Like Thieves In The Night

Martin had never seen Ariadne like this. Her hair was brushed and loose, a single flower tucked behind her ear. There was a silver pendant around her neck in place of the silver arrows so often on her back. She held a bunch of flowers, picked by her own hand from the mountainside on their way down from the fort, they were delicate and beautiful, a sign of life, rather than the heavy sword she normally held. The blue dress she wore was simple and light, wafting as she moved and hanging off her curves. He found he liked it much more than the armour she usually wore, bulky despite its definition as ‘light’.  
Ariadne was always beautiful to him, but stood lighted by moonlight outside the chapel he thought she was truly radiant. A vision of the woman he hoped she could one day be, safe and comfortable instead of constantly fighting.  
It had been little more than a week since his argument with Jauffre, since his discussion with Ariadne. The thoughts both had placed inside his head had taken up residence there and he had done a lot of thinking. When Ariadne had finally returned to him his mind was made up. If she was willing he would marry her, then and there. She would be his no matter what Jauffre, or any stuffy old Council members, might say.  
She had arrived at the fort early that morning and Martin could have cried. She claimed she was perfectly healthy, but he had insisted on carefully healing every inch of her anyway, just in case she was hiding something. And he had told her his desire.  
She had not laughed of scoffed, she had merely smiled and agreed.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Martin asked.  
“Of course. I love you. I want to be with you forever, I want to be bound to you in body just as much as in soul.”  
“This is not the sort of wedding you deserve, Ariadne. You deserve smiling faces and a great feast. Jewels and music and a carriage. You deserve everything any bride wants. You don’t deserve to be married under the cover of darkness like a thief in the night.”  
Ariadne smiled fondly at him. Before her she saw a man she wasn’t sure she had ever seen before. Martin wasn’t wearing his priest’s robes, nor was he in any kind of grand outfit. Instead he wore a simple shirt and plain linen trousers that he’d borrowed from the fort. He looked just like a man. No more, no less. It made her heart beat a little faster, knowing that this was who she had chosen. This was someone no one but her might ever see. To others he had been priest and now would be emperor. To her, and to no one else, he was Martin.  
“What I want, my love, is you. That’s all I want. I don’t care about carriages and jewels and people complimenting me through fake smiles. All I need is you and me stood before the gods”  
He smiled. It was foolish of him to think she would have wanted anything else. Ariadne was wearing a dress and holding flowers but she was still Ariadne.  
She glanced up at the moon to gauge the time. “The priestess said she would be waiting for us around now”  
“In which case-” Martin held out his arm for his bride to take, “let us not keep the gods waiting.”

“Perhaps this is really for the best”  
Jauffre jumped at the sound of Baurus’ voice. The blade appeared, unannounced, at his side, watching the two figures sneak back up the mountain towards the fort. Dressed in ordinary clothes, a bunch of bent flowers clutched in the girl’s hand, they were hardly the picture of an emperor and his bride.  
“Our emperor snuck out in the middle of the night to marry his secret lover. A woman who will now be the empress one day, if she does her job right. How can this be for the best?”  
“This isn’t about politics or tradition, Jauffre” Baurus snapped. An uncharacteristic disregard for the elder man’s rank. “This is about their happiness. It is about their lives. They are now joined not only by their hearts but by the gods. Maybe those same gods that just blessed their union will see fit not to separate them. Perhaps…” He cut off. Maybe he was too suspicious to voice his greatest hopes aloud. Or perhaps he was unwilling to allow himself to hope at all.  
“You think that fate will spare them because they are married?”  
“It is merely a hope. A prayer. A longing to believe that the gods have some good in them”  
They watched the pair continue on their way up the road, secrecy abandoned in the heat of the moment as they revelled in the warmth of each other and the chill of the night air. The effects of wine and joy showed through in the comically loud whispers they let out as they slipped through the giant gates to the fort.  
“I cannot allow this to go without saying anything, Baurus.”  
Baurus looked at Jauffre, concerned that the old blade might be too stuck in his ways. “You’ll allow them tonight at least, won’t you? It is their wedding night”  
Jauffre sighed. “Alright. They can have tonight”

“I took too long in finding you”  
The words slipped past Ariadne’s lips in a voice which lay somewhere between a whisper and a sob. Her throat was tight with unshed tears as she lay on Martin’s bed, looking up at him as he removed his shoes. She had been giddy with excitement all the way back to the fort, but now that she was finally alone with him a whole host of emotions not fit for one’s wedding night settled on her.  
Martin sensed the change in mood and sat beside her. “What do you mean?”  
“After the emperor died I did not go straight to Jauffre, I stayed in the city a few days. I had my freedom back and I wanted to enjoy it. I thought I had time. And when I finally made it to him and he told me I had to find you I didn’t. I went to Anvil. I wasted time on silly little tasks and I earnt myself some money. I only went to Kvatch as an afterthought because I was passing by. If I’d known anything I would have gone straight there. I would have had those few days. I would have had every second I could with you”  
He took the flower out from behind her ear, watching as it released some hair which tumbled over her face.  
“We have our entire lives now, Ariadne. In twenty years’ time those days will seem like nothing.”  
“There’s no guarantee we’ll make it”  
“Of course there is. The gods brought us together, tonight they blessed us. They would not tear us apart. They are not without mercy, and if anyone deserves something good from them it is you”  
Ariadne smiled, her mind calmed by Martin’s words. “You must have been a wonderful priest, Martin”  
“Oh I was. But if you’d walked into my chapel I’m afraid I would have become a terrible one”  
Ariadne smiled wider now, running a finger across the line of his jaw. “And why is that?”  
“I would have broken every vow I ever made just to talk to”  
“You’re a terrible flirt, Martin Septim”  
“Get used to it. I fully intend to sweet talk you for the rest of your life, my beautiful wife”  
“I suppose I can be alright with that, dear husband”


	5. Greet The New Day

“I suppose you’re angry with me”  
Jauffre’s grip on the wall in front of him tightened. His knuckles turned white. Of course she had found him.  
“Now is not the time to discuss this, Ariadne. Shouldn’t you be with Martin? It is your wedding night, after all”  
The moon shone down from a cloudless sky. Ariadne pulled a thin smile, taking a place beside the old warrior on the walls of Cloud Ruler Temple.  
“I can rarely sleep a full night these days, wedding night or no”  
“So you decided to seek me out?”  
“Actually you’re standing in my preferred thinking spot”  
Jauffre fought back the wave of emotion he felt directed at the young woman. He had seen her standing precisely where he was on long, lonely nights of late. He had never come to stand with her. Perhaps he should have.  
“I can only assume you’re thinking” she continued, “as you’re standing in the best thinking spot in this place. At the best thinking time”  
“You have given me a lot to think about”  
“So you are angry”  
He took a long moment to think about his response. “Not angry. Not at you”  
“Disappointed, then”  
“I don’t know what I feel towards you. I cannot pretend to approve of what you did”  
“What I did?”  
“Not you alone. You and Martin”  
“We did not ask for your approval. We still don’t”  
“I know”  
There was nothing but silence and the cold night between them. He could sense her at his elbow, tense and wary.  
“So you will one day be the empress”  
“That’s not why I did this. I would have married Martin even if he had nothing”  
“I know, but it is true nonetheless”  
“I will go with him through whatever tomorrow brings, and the day after that. And all the days to come. I will council him to the best of my ability and protect him with my life. Just as you will, as any of us would if he asked. But unlike all of those simpering nobles he will be required to listen to I will never lie to him and I will tell him when I think he is wrong. I will give him the very best of me and I will love him for all of my days”  
“That is not the problem, Ariadne”  
“No. The problem in your mind is what other people will think”  
“This is war, my dear. You are very good at it. But the future will be politics, and politics is entirely about what people think”  
“You know, Jauffre, lately I have met a lot of people, I have been to a lot of places. Did you know that half-way up a mountain somewhere is a shrine to a daedric god where the followers won’t even consider talking to you if you’re not absolutely hideous? I had to get completely hammered just to be allowed to speak to them. And there’s a painter somewhere who got lost in his own painting which came to life, people just think he’s a really good painter. There’s a woman in Anvil who keeps rats in her basement and loves them like they’re her own children, and a man there who screams in the street about prophets and warriors and doom. In Skingrad there’s a wood-elf who believes the whole world is against him who runs around calling out ‘pssst’ from dark corners and people just call him the town eccentric. And you know as well as I do that the count of Skingrad is a vampire, but people just say that he’s shy. Cheydinhal is very obviously home to a shady sanctuary of killers but no one there batts an eyelid, because they’re not doing any harm to the town and because they’re polite and friendly if you meet them in the street”  
“Is there a point to this, Ariadne?”  
“The point is that this world is made up of an infinite variety of people, an infinite variety of freaks and weirdos and people who shouldn’t fit in with ordinary life. But they get by, they thrive. Not everyone is boring and conventional and the rest of the world allows that, accepts their differences and lets them find their way in life. From the lowest to the highest, people forge their own paths. I may not be a conventional empress but I will do everything I can to be a good one. I’m already on the pages of history, you can’t write me out of it after everything I’ve done”  
“I wouldn’t try to”  
“But you would seek to stop me going further. Not because you resent me going from the very bottom to the very top, but because you have decided many things you can’t know for certain”  
Jauffre had no reply for that, unable to lie but also too proud to admit the truth of it.  
“Unfortunate as it is, the Mythic Dawn are right. There is a new dawn coming, Jauffre. We’re on the very edge of it. If we make it through this I will stand beside my husband and we will see the world born anew. Nothing anyone knows can help him there, but it will be my honour to see the sun rise on the new age with him. And to find our way to forming a new world together”  
“I hope for all our sakes we’ll live long enough to try”  
Beside him, Ariadne breathed a heavy sigh. “We have to. There is no other choice. We will win. I won’t let Martin fail”  
“I trust you”  
Ariadne gave him a small smile of acknowledgement. She was far more capable than any of them knew, and she seemed to realise this. If anyone could do it, Jauffre thought, it was her.  
“I should head inside. It wouldn’t do for Martin to wake up alone on our first morning of marriage. Even if by tomorrow I’ll probably be sleeping in some cheap inn somewhere, I want our first morning to be a promise of better”  
The champion took a last long look at the world before them and then began to turn away.  
“Ariadne.” She turned back at his voice, “I would like to be the first to offer you congratulations on your marriage. I hope it is a happy one. I really do”  
Ariadne smiled. The very first slither of sunshine began to show beyond the horizon.  
“Dawn is breaking, Jauffre. Greet the new day”  
She laughed at the use of the Mythic Dawn’s slogan, pleased to think how they would hate the words coming from her own mouth. Despite it all, Jauffre chuckled as well.  
She headed inside to curl back up with her new husband. Jauffre turned back to watch the dawn come in.  
Their marriage was impossible, he thought. And yet it had happened. Perhaps that would be a symbol for the new age they would usher in together.  
He hoped so.

The bedroom was still dark when Ariadne slipped back under the covers. The body in the bed beside her shifted a little.  
“Where have you been?” Martin murmured, teetering between sleeping and waking. Ariadne tucked her body up next to his beneath the blanket, seeking out his hand with her own and intertwining their fingers. “Shhh my love, don’t let me wake you. I would rather see your eyes flutter open on a bright morning.”  
“But where were you?” he insisted and Ariadne could tell the land of the waking was winning the battle. She tucked herself in further, running her free hand through his hair and placing a kiss to his lips.  
“I just went for a little walk. I met Jauffre, he congratulates us”  
She continued running fingers through his hair and gently kissing him until any ounce of resistance left his body. “As well he should” Martin whispered, the warmth of sleep reclaiming him.  
Ariadne lingered awake a few moments longer, revelling in Martin’s calm breathing, before the warmth of his body against hers became too enticing. She allowed her eyes to close, steadying her breaths. As she slipped into dreams the sun rose outside, casting light across the isolated fortress. The newlyweds slept on, the weight of the world temporarily removed from their shoulders.

The End


End file.
